A Comprehensive Guide to APA Citations and Format

Overview of this Guide:

This page provides you with an overview of APA format. Included is information about referencing, various citation formats with examples for each source type, and other helpful information.

If you’re looking for MLA format, check out Citation Machine’s MLA Guide. Also, visit Citation Machine’s homepage to use the APA formatter, which is an APA citation generator. See more across the site.

Being Responsible While Researching

When you’re writing a research paper or creating a research project, you will probably use another individual’s work to help develop your own assignment. A good researcher or scholar uses another individual’s work in a responsible way. This involves indicating that the work of other individuals is included in your project, which is one way to prevent plagiarism.

Plagiarism? What is it?

The word plagiarism is derived from the latin word, plagiare, which means “to kidnap.” The term has evolved over the years to now mean the act of taking another individual’s work and using it as your own, without acknowledging the original author. Be careful of plagiarism! Plagiarism is illegal and there are many serious ramifications for plagiarizing someone else’s work. Thankfully, plagiarism can be prevented. One way it can be prevented is by including citations in your research project. Want to make these citations quickly and easily? Try Citation Machine’s automatic citation generator, which is found on our homepage.

All about Citations

Citations should be included in research projects, or any added anytime you use another individual’s work in your own assignment. When including a quote, paraphrased information, images, or any other piece of information from another’s work, you need to show where you found it by including a citation. This guide explains how to make citations.

There are two types of APA citations. The first type of citation, which is called in-text, or parenthetical citations, are included when you’re adding information from another individual’s work into your own project. When you add text word-for-word from another source into your project or take information from another source and place it in your own words and writing style (known as paraphrasing), you must make an in-text citation. These citations are short in length and are placed in the main part of your project, directly after the borrowed information.

The other type of citations, which are called reference citations, are found at the end of your research project, usually on the last page. Included on this reference list page are the full citations for any in-text citations found in the body of the project. These citations are listed in alphabetical order, one after the other.

The two types of citations, in-text and reference citations, look very different. In-text citations include three items: the last name(s) of the author, the year the source was published, and the page or location of the information. Reference citations include more information such as the name of the author(s), the year the source was published, the title of the source, and the URL or page range.

Why is it Important to Include Citations?

Including citations in your research projects is a very important component of the research process. When you include citations, you’re being a responsible researcher. You’re showing readers that you were able to find valuable, high-quality information from other sources, place them into your project where appropriate, all while acknowledging the original authors and their work.

Information About APA

Who Created It?

The American Psychological Association is an organization created for individuals in the psychology field. With close to 116,000 members, they provide educational opportunities, funding, guidance, and research information for everything psychology related. They also have numerous high-quality databases, peer-reviewed journals, and books that revolve around mental health.

The American Psychological Association is also credited with creating their own specific citation style, which is a popular way to create citations. This citation format is used by individuals not only in the psychology field, but many other subject areas as well. Education, economics, business, and social sciences also use this citation style quite frequently. Click here for more information.

Why Was This Style Created?

This format was first developed in 1929 in order to form a standardized way for researchers in the science fields to document their sources. Prior to the inception of these standards and guidelines, individuals were recognizing the work of other authors by including bits and pieces of information, in random order. There wasn’t a set way to format citations. You can probably imagine how difficult it was to understand the sources that were used for research projects!

Having a standard format for citing sources allows readers to glance at a citation and easily locate the title, author, year published, and other critical pieces of information needed to understand a source.

The Evolution Of This Style

This citation style is currently in its 6th edition and was released in 2009. In previous versions of APA format, researchers and scholars were required to include the date that an electronic resource was accessed. In addition, names of databases were included, and only the name of the city was included in the publication information.

Now, it is no longer required to include the date of access as well as the name of the database in an APA citation. The full location, including the city AND state (or the city and country if it’s an international publisher) is included in the citation.

In 2013, the American Psychological Association released a revised manual just for electronic resources. This was released due to the increase in the amount of technological advances and resources.

Citations

The Appearance of Citations

There are two types of citations: in-text (or parenthetical citations) and complete reference citations.

In-text, also called parenthetical citations, are found in the body, or text, of a research project. They’re included after a direct quote or paraphrase. See the next section below to learn more about how to format and include in-text citations in your project.

Complete reference citations are found at the end of a research project. These reference citations are longer and include all of the information needed to locate the source yourself. Full citations for all of the in-text citations are found here.

Researchers and scholars must look up the proper citation format for the source that they’re attempting to cite. Books have a certain format, websites have a different format, periodicals have a different format, and so on. Scroll down to find the proper format for the source you’re citing.

If you would like to cite your sources automatically, Citation Machine is a citation generator that will make the citation process much easier for you.

In-Text & Parenthetical Citations

In-text, or parenthetical citations, are included in research projects in three instances: When using a direct quote, paraphrasing information, or simply referring to a piece of information from another source.

Quite often, researchers and scholars use a small amount of text, word for word, from another source and include it in their own research projects. This is done for many reasons. Sometimes, another author’s words are so eloquently written that there isn’t a better way to rephrase it yourself. Other times, the author’s words can help prove a point or establish an understanding for something in your research project. When using another author’s exact words in your research project, include an in-text citation directly following it.

In addition to using the exact words from another source and placing them into your project, in-text citations are also added anytime you paraphrase information. Paraphrasing is when you take information from another source and rephrase it, in your own words.

When simply referring to another piece of information from another source, also include an in-text citation directly following it.

In-text citations are found after a direct quote, paraphrased information, or reference. They are formatted like this:

Exact text, paraphrased information, or reference (Author’s Last Name, Year published, page number or paragraph number*)

*Only include the page or paragraph number when using a direct quote or paraphrase. This information is included in order to help the reader locate the exact portion of text themselves. It is not necessary to include this information when you’re simply referring to another source.

Here’s are some examples of in-text citations:

“Well, you’re about to enter the land of the free and the brave. And I don’t know how you got that stamp on your passport. The priest must know someone” (Tóibín, 2009, p. 52).

and

Student teachers who use technology in their lessons tend to continue using technology tools throughout their teaching careers (Kent & Giles, 2017).

If including the author’s name in the sentence, only include the year in the in-text citation.

Example:

According to a study done by Kent and Giles (2017), student teachers who use technology in their lessons tend to continue using technology tools throughout their teaching careers.

The full references, or citations, for these sources can be found on the last part of a research project, titled the “Reference List.”

While this guide’s intent is to help you understand and develop citations on your own, there are many citation tools available on Citation Machine. Head to our homepage to learn more.

Reference List Citation Components

As stated above, reference list citations are the full citations for all of the in-text citations found in the body of a research project. These full citations are listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last names. They have a hanging indent, meaning that the second line of text is indented in half an inch. See examples below to see what a hanging indent looks like.

The format for citations varies based on the source type, but some citations use this general format:

If you plan on using a free APA citation tool, such as Citation Machine, the names of the authors will format properly for you.

Publication Information

Directly after the author’s name is the date the source was published. Include the full date for newspapers, the month and year for magazine articles, and only the year for journals and all other sources. If no date is found on the source, include the initials, n.d. for “no date.”

Newspaper:

Narducci, M. (2017, May 19). City renames part of 11th Street Ed Snider Way to honor Flyers founder. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved from http://www.philly.com/

If using Citation Machine, our citation generator will add the correct format for you automatically.

Titles

When writing out titles for books, articles, chapters, or other nonperiodical sources, only capitalize the first word of the title and the first word of the subtitle. Names of people, places, organizations, and other proper nouns also have the first letter capitalized.

For books and reports, italicize the title in the citation.

Examples:

Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Roots: The saga of an American family.

For articles and chapters in APA referencing, do not italicize the title.

Examples:

Wake up the nation: Public libraries, policy making, and political discourse.

For newspapers, magazines, journals, newsletters, and other periodicals, capitalize the first letter in each word and italicize the title.

Example:

The Seattle Times.

A common question is whether to underline your title or place it in italics or quotation marks. In this citation style, titles are never underlined or placed in quotation marks. They are either placed in italics or not. Here’s a good general rule: When a source sits alone and is not part of a larger whole, place the title in italics. If the source does not sit alone and is part of a larger whole, do not place it in italics.

Books, movies, journals, and television shows are placed in italics since they stand alone.
Songs on an album, episodes of television shows, chapters in books, and articles in journals are not placed in italics since they are smaller pieces of larger wholes.

Citation Machine’s citation generator will format the title in your citations automatically.

Additional Information about the Title

If you feel it would be helpful to include additional information about the source type, include this information in brackets immediately following the title. Use a brief descriptive term and capitalize the first letter.

If you are using Citation Machine, additional information about the title is automatically added for you.

Information About the Publication

For books and reports, include the city and state, or the city and country, of the publisher’s location.

Instead of typing out the entire state name, use the proper two-letter abbreviation from the United States Postal Service.

Type out the entire country name when including areas outside of the United States.

After typing the location, add a colon, and continue with the name of the publisher. It is not necessary to include the entire name of the publisher. It is acceptable to use a brief, intelligible form. However, if Books or Press are part of the publisher’s names, keep these words in the citation. Other common terms, such as Inc., Co., Publishers, and others can be omitted.

For newspapers, journals, magazines, and other periodicals, include the volume and issue number after the title. The volume number is listed first, by itself, in italics. The issue number is in parentheses immediately after it, not italicized.

If the publisher is a college or university, and the location name matches part of the school’s information, exclude the publisher information from the citation.

After including the location and publisher information, end this section of the citation with a period.

Examples:

London, England: Pearson.

New York, NY: Perseus Books.

Electronic Source Information:

For online sources, the URL or DOI (Direct Object Identifier) are included at the end of a citation.

DOI numbers are often created by publishers for journal articles and other periodical sources. They were created in response to the problem of broken or outdated links and URLs. When a journal article is assigned a DOI number, it is static, and will never change. Because of its permanent characteristic, DOIs are the preferred type of electronic information to include in APA citations. When a DOI number is not available, include the source’s URL.

For DOIs, include the number in this format:

http://dx.doi.org/xxxx

For URLs, type them in this format:

Retrieved from http://

Other information about electronic sources:

If the URL is longer than a line, break it up before a punctuation mark.

Do not place a period at the end of the citation.

It is not necessary to include retrieval dates, unless the source changes often over time (like in a Wikipedia article).

It is not necessary to include the names of databases

If using Citation Machine to develop your citation, the online publication information will be automatically replaced by the DOI. Citation Machine will properly cite your online sources for you.

Chapters in Books:

When citing a chapter in an edited book, use the following format:

Structure for Chapters in Edited Books in Print:

Last name of chapter author, First initial. Middle initial. (Year published). Chapter title. In First initial. Middle initial. Last name of Editor (Ed.), Book Title (pp. xx-xx). Publishing City, State: Publisher.

Example for Chapters in Edited Books in Print:

De Abreu, B.S. (2001). The role of media literacy education within social networking and the library. In D. E. Agosto & J. Abbas (Eds.), Teens, libraries, and social networking (pp. 39-48). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

Structure for Chapters in Edited Books, found Online:

Last name of chapter author, First initial. Middle initial. (Year published). Chapter title. In First initial. Last name of Editor (Ed.), Book title [E-reader version, if used] (pp. xx-xx). doi:10.xxxx/xxxxxx or Retrieved from http://xxxx

E-Books found on a Database:

Reminder:

Only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns in the title should be capitalized.

A DOI (digital object identifier) is basically a number that links a source to its location on the Internet. This number isn’t always provided, but if it is, it’s very important to include it in your citation.

Structure:

Author Last Name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year Published). Title of work. http://dx.doi.org/xxxx or Retrieved from http://xxxx

Journal Articles Online:

If your source is found online, but there is no DOI provided, you can include the URL instead.

A DOI (digital object identifier) is basically a number that links a source to its location on the Internet. This number isn’t always provided, but if it is, you should include it in your citation rather than including a URL.

Unlike previous editions, the 6th edition does not require including a retrieval date or date accessed for online sources. A retrieval date is only necessary if the source is likely to change (ex. Wikipedia).

Structure:

Author Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year Published). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Volume(Issue), page range. http://dx.doi.org/xxxx

Blogs:

McClintock Miller, S. (2014, January 28). EasyBib joins the Rainbow Loom project as we dive into research with the third graders [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com

On Citation Machine’s form for blogs, you have the option to choose from standard, audio, and video blogs. Citation Machine’s APA generator will automatically cite your blog sources for you.

TV and Radio Broadcasts

Structure:

Writer Last Name, First initial. Middle initial. (Writer), & Director Last Name, First initial. (Director). (Year aired). Title of episode [Television or Radio series episode]. In First initial. Producer’s Last name (Executive producer), TV or Radio series name. City, State of original channel: Channel.

If using Citation Machine’s citation generator, television and radio broadcasts use the same form.

Films

Structure:

Producer Last Name, First initial. Middle initial. (Producer), & Director Last Name, First initial. Middle initial. (Director). (Year Released). Title of film [Motion picture]. Country of origin: Studio.

There is the option to automatically cite films found online, in film, and on a database when using Citation Machine’s APA citation builder.

Interviews

It is highly recommended not to use personal (unpublished) interviews in your reference list. Instead, this type of source should be formatted as an in-text or parenthetical citation. Here is an example of an in-text citation for a personal interview:

If you are planning on using Citation Machine, a note is displayed above the form stating that personal interviews are not typically cited in text.

Songs & Musical Recordings found Online

*Note: If the name of the songwriter is the same as the name of the recording artist, leave out the bracketed information located after the name of the song.

Structure:

Last name, First initial. Middle initial. of Songwriter. (Year created). Song title [Recorded by First initial. Middle initial. Last name of the performer’s name or the name of the band]. On Album Title [Medium]. Retrieved from URL

If using Citation Machine, choose the form titled, “Music/Audio,” to automatically cite your songs and musical recordings. Our APA citation maker is free and easy to use.

Doctoral Dissertations found on a Database:

Structure:

Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year published). Title of dissertation or thesis (Doctoral dissertation or Master’s thesis). Retrieved from Name of database. (Accession or Order No. xxxxxxx).

Example:

English, L. S. (2014). The influences of community college library characteristics on institutional graduation rates: A national study (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from American Doctoral Dissertations. (37CDD15DF659E63F).

If using Citation Machine, there is a form for dissertations that will automatically cite this source type for you.

Annotated Bibliographies:

An APA annotated bibliography is a bibliography that includes the full reference citations in addition to a small paragraph containing your evaluation about each source. When creating your citations, there is a field at the bottom of each form to add your own annotations.

Title Pages:

Looking to create an APA format title page? Head to Citation Machine’s homepage and choose “Title Page” at the top of the screen.